1. Field of Invention
Kitchen equipment, food cutting boards
2. Description of Prior Art
The common cutting board used for food preparation is a single flat plate of wood or plastic and is set directly on the kitchen counter top or preparation table, and are prone to sliding during use; picking up contamination from food, water, and cleaning residue on the counter top, or depositing similar onto the counter top; possibly scratching the counter top; rocking if the board or counter top is warped or not flat; difficulty in picking up because of it being directly on the counter top; etc. Moreover, when it is time to move the cuttings to a serving or mixing bowl, the board must be lifted and/or carried to the receiving vessel. While it is being so moved, there being no retaining lips, spillage is common, especially if the cut-up material is juicy. Care must be taken to ensure that there is no cross contamination of the foods prepared on a board, especially between meat products and vegetables, and between beef and poultry. Health authorities recommend separate boards for each category of foods. Wooden boards are particularly prone to cross contamination as they have a propensity to soak up juices and are difficult to clean thoroughly and deeply. Plastics such as polypropylene, polyethylene, Nylon, Teflon, ABS, and the like are used in the trade. High-density wood fiber laminates have been found to have the desired characteristics. Plastic boards nick and score easily, and when scored, the furrow is edged with a raised burr. Users criticize plastic as tending to dull knives. Both plastic and wood can be resurfaced a few times reasonably well by sanding, filing, scraping or a combination of these simple procedures. Plastic boards, unlike wood, are generally resistant to bleaches and other strong disinfectant chemicals and may be put into the dishwasher for washing.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,011, Oct. 24, 2006 by Kevin McLaughlin in one mode is a set of relatively thin and flexible plastic sheets bonded to together by sheet magnets. The sheets are separated for use as individual boards each dedicated to compatible foods. Another mode of cutting board design taught by McLaughlin is a more rigid board with magnets at the corners on one side (4:9-25). McLaughlin teaches only that the magnets are for stacking boards and for adhering to a refrigerator for storage. No base for his cutting board is mentioned. One problem with having a magnetic underside or spot magnets mounted on the underside is that the magnets may pick up ferrous particles. Not common, but may be on the counter top from several sources, in particular, from sharpening steel knives over the counter top. The particles will accumulate on the magnets and surely will mar the counter top as the board slides about in use.
GB2311460, by Nigel Bruce Hinton shows a one-piece board system comprising a cutting surface attached to a base. The board portion is larger than the base and the overhang is used to slide rectangular trays or plates to receive the cuttings from the cutting board. Furthermore, the base portion has at least one arcuate cut-out to receive rounded plates or trays for receiving cuttings.
Joseph-Joseph Ltd. dual magnetic cutting board, Patent application GB 0526482.5 (abandoned) wwwjosephjoseph.com. Anthony Joseph and Richard Joseph The Joseph-Joseph board is a rectangular plastic working plate and a solid rectangular wooden base system. Both have magnets, arranged N-S to attract, embedded flush in the corners of both the base and cutting plate. The cutting board is held securely to the base solely by magnetic attraction.
None of these address all the objections identified above.
To overcome the problems of sliding, off-loading, and cleaning, a board or boards with a base having friction feet and removable working boards is described as the solution to all the identified problems of the usual cutting board operation.